


A Simple Exchange

by Leni



Series: Cora's Daughter [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-11 02:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10452588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: Kissing wasn't very complicated.





	

Kissing wasn't very complicated, Belle decided. In the beginning she had tried to keep count of her heartbeats in between parting away for new breath, but the soft graze of teeth against her lower lip had startled her into losing the enforced rhythm and instead now she found herself following Rumpelstiltskin's lead.

He was patient with her, erasing her fear that his behavior would change now that she was irretrievably under his power. He had even listened to her when she'd demanded to be moved out of the room he'd originally meant for her use. Oh, Rumpelstiltskin had laughed and teased, remarking what a waste it was, and was she certain that she didn't share her mother's taste in decorations? But in the end he had brought her to a different room that, if smaller, at least hadn't been intended for another resident.

Now more than ever, Belle refused to live in her mother's shadow.

"Tsk."

The irritated sound made her eyes fly open.

Rumpelstiltskin's strange eyes were peering at her, and perhaps she should have trembled at his inhuman gaze but it was impossible to summon fear when she could not read any anger in his expression. He might not be happy with her, but neither was he gearing up to make her regret having crossed his path.

"Yes?" she said, seeing no reason to step away from him or to unlatch her arms from around his neck. "What's wrong?"

He gave a slow blink, looking intrigued at her behavior for the second it took before he cleared his throat and said gravely, "If you're too distracted to continue, dearie, just say the word." He seemed to make a point of glowering down at her. "I have better things to do with my time than to coax your attention."

Belle opened her mouth to promise to focus on him only, but at the same moment it dawned on her that this wasn't his first attempt to give her an excuse to leave matters as they were. It made her head spin, that Rumpelstiltskin might be willing to leave her be with no more than a few kisses at the doorstep of her new room.

"But I like this," she said, forgetting to check her words because his behavior deserved that she told the truth. Her fingers drifted to touch his cheek, drawing an invisible line from his cheekbones to his hairline and playing with the loose curls she encountered. "I made you a deal, Rumpelstiltskin," she told him, arching an eyebrow because he'd kept her on a diet of soft kisses for the whole of the day and, beside the fact that an incomplete contract with the Dark One wasn't worth the air in which it was spoken, Belle was curious about what came after kissing. "I become mistress of your castle, companion and lover-"

"Of your own free will."

Belle shrugged. Her fate would eventually have been the same, but at least with Rumpelstiltskin she'd chosen the man to whom she would join herself. "Yes, of course," she said, intuiting that no man wanted to hear that she would have given herself to another if circumstance had forced her. "I come with you, and in exchange you protect what's yours. Am I yours yet, Rumpelstiltskin?"

His nostrils flared, but he ignored his cue and still didn't come further into the room. "There are different definitions of the word, dearie," he told her.

Belle laughed. Perhaps in another lifetime she would have grabbed at the exit he was offering, but she doubted it. Going back on her word would make her a liar. She would only have manipulated Rumpelstiltskin into taking her away from Avonlea, and Belle felt herself shiver at the thought of slipping into that role. She would not prove herself her mother's daughter now that she was finally free of her. "I knew what I wanted when I sought you out," she reminded him, letting her hands drift to rest on his shoulders as she was suddenly unsure whether her caresses were welcome. "Was I not clear?"

"A simple exchange," he muttered, echoing her words from their first meeting. His own hands had moved from her waist to flutter between them, never still for more than a heartbeat.

On impulse, Belle grabbed one of them. She had come too far to change her mind now, and Rumpelstiltskin had given her no reason to regret her choice.

Her resolution must be visible to him, because his gaze studied her with care, his expression a mix of amusement and disbelief. "I could...."

Belle shook her head, aware that if she let him talk, he might sway her. "The simpler the terms, the tighter the contract," she ground out. "I will not leave a loophole for someone to take me back home!"

Now he looked offended. "Remember who you're talking to, dearie. The Dark One's terms are never contested."

"Never?" Belle squeezed his hand unthinkingly. "Remember who told me stories about you, oh Dark One. Would you guess which one was her favorite?" She continued despite his hiss of anger, searching his gaze so he'd know she didn't mean to mock his past, but preserve her future. "You might be a master of wordsmiths, Rumpelstiltskin, but you and I know of someone who has bested you once."

"Don't you trust me?" he asked coldly, eyes narrowing.

Belle tilted her chin up, unafraid of him. "I trust our deal," she challenged him. "Are you saying you won't keep it?"

Her answer was his hand grabbing at her chin. "So be it," he murmured.

Yes, Belle thought as his lips came down on hers again. Kissing was definitely not the complicated part of their arrangement.

 

The End  
26/03/17

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love! Please leave a comment? :)


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